


Two Tries for Five Dollars

by CocoPbblez



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: BiAce Lance (Voltron), Gay Keith (Voltron), Keith has anxiety, M/M, May throw in some angst, Minor Allura/Shiro (Voltron), Mutual Pining, Panic Attacks, Shiro (Voltron) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Shiro and Keith are half brothers, lots of fluff, nonbinary pidge, slight aphobia, will add more as I continue the story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-08
Updated: 2017-04-11
Packaged: 2018-09-22 19:54:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9623069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CocoPbblez/pseuds/CocoPbblez
Summary: Lance is one of those people at the fair who try to get you to play their game and Keith is the unfortunate lad who is sucked into playing ‘cause that’s the "Lance Effect" (A.K.A. a discount for pretty boys) and 'cause Keith never backs down from a challenge (A.K.A. is a sucker for pretty boys). Everything goes downhill from there.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired from my time at the local fair (my first and, so far, only fair I’ve been to) and something similar happened to my friend’s sister. Most of the situations in this story are things I’ve had happen to me, I’ve seen happen to other people, or things I would’ve liked happen to me. If anything seems inaccurate or something that I should clarify, hit me up at cocopbblez.tumblr.com. This is my first story, so it's probably not that great. Oh well. First chapter is just me getting a feel for writing and the story. Happy reading:)

In Lance’s opinion, the fair is the most magical place in the universe and now, after almost two weeks of waiting, he’s finally got a backstage pass to the action.

“Oh my god! Dude! They hired me!” Lance entered the dorm and found Hunk, who was hunched over his desk. “This is gonna be so fuckin’ cool!”

After a few moments of Lance standing in the doorway, Hunk looked up from his homework and took out one of his earbuds. “I’m sorry. What’d you say?”

Lance scoffed as his supposed ‘friend’. “Wow, ignoring me during a time of celebration.”

Hunk put his hands up apologetically. “Sorry, I’m trying to finish this so we can go meet Pidge _on time_ and work on our presentation.”

“Ah, shit. I forgot all about that.” Lance set down his stuff and stepped closer to his friend. He and Hunk have been inseparable since the first day of middle school.

_Lance had been dreading the first day of middle school for the past month. He hated having to wake up early to learn about shit he doesn't give a fuck about. After his mom dropped him off, he went to go pick up his schedule and headed to where his locker should be. As he was walking, he noticed a boy on the verge of tears. His heart broke a little at the sight of him, so he walked over to him so he could help him out._

_“Hey, are you okay?” He had asked him. The boy looked at him in shock for a moment, as if he didn't think anyone would be willing to help him, before he started bawling._

_“I-I don’t kn-know. We just m-moved in and I d-don’t know anyone and I d-don’t know where to g-go!”_

_Lance froze. He had no idea what to do in this situation. Sure, he's cried before, but his mom would usually pull him into a hug and calm him down while combing her fingers through his hair. He couldn't do that for a complete stranger._

_However, he figured nobody would want to be seen in this state, especially on the first day of school. So, he led the boy to the bathroom and tried to calm him down._

_“Hey, it’s okay. Calm down. I can help you.”_

_The boy wiped away his tears and looked up at Lance, “Will you r-really?”_

_Lance stood straight and extended a hand to him, “Of course. The name’s Lance.”_

_The boy glanced at Lance’s hand and hesitated for a moment before said, “Th-thank you. My name’s Hunk,” He shook Lance’s hand._

_Lance then showed Hunk where he had to go to pick up his schedule and then he compared their schedules together._

_“Holy shit. Lucky coincidence. We both have the same first class.” Lance put his arm over Hunk’s shoulders, “I think we’re destined to be gooood friends.”_

Now, they were college roommates.

“Anyway," Lance leaned against Hunk's desk, "back to what’s important. The group doing the bottle up game at the fair hired me to stand in for one of their members!”

“Oh, nice! See? I told you you’d get it,” Hunk patted Lance’s shoulder then turned back to his homework, “But seriously. I need to finish this.”

Hunk put his earbud back in his ear and continued doing his homework. Lance rolled his eyes and sat at his own desk and started doing his own homework.

 

***

 

When it started nearing 5, Lance heard Hunk get up from his desk and start getting ready to head out.

“Holy shit. Is it already 5?” Lance asked glancing at his clock.

“Just about. Now, hurry up. You know how Pidge gets when left on their own.”

Shuddering at the memory, Lance quickly packed up his stuff and left with Hunk. As they approached the library, Hunk whispered up to Lance, “Keep your eyes peeled. They could be anywhere…”

Lance found them sitting at one of the tables and both he and Hunk rushed over to them.

Pidge didn’t even glance up from their laptop when Lance and Hunk sat down. “Took you losers long enough. I almost hacked into the PA system and played some funky beats while waiting on you guys.”

Lance cocked an eyebrow. “We’re only, like, three minutes late, though. And what the fuck do you mean by ‘funky beats’? Is that what the 'youngsters' are into these days?”

Pidge shrugged. “Whatever. Let’s just get this project finished.”

Lance plopped down in the chair next to them, "Whatever you say, neeerd."

Pidge replied by sticking their nose out at them and Hunk just groaned.

Lance would never admit it, but Pidge was probably the smartest 15-year-old Lance has ever seen. They had graduated high school at 14 and is now in college majoring in computer science that they’ll probably finish in a year or two. It's not very surprising if you think about the family they came from.

Their father is a very highly regarded astronaut and is currently in space with their 18-year-old brother, Matt. It was very tough on Pidge when the launched, but it ended up fueling their drive to one day work with them at NASA.

Lance and Hunk met Pidge in their Chemistry lab they shared during their first semester. Pidge fit right in with them and they've helped Lance and Hunk get out of trouble way too many times (All of which were Lance's fault).

After what felt like forever, they finally finished the project.

"Fuckin' finally. If I have to look at that god awful... whatever that thing was, I'm gonna flip," Lance complained as he stretched in his seat.

"Yeah, man. It was like an alien or something," Hunk added while he started gathering his stuff, "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm freakin' starving. I say, we grab some grub."

Lance and Pidge nodded in agreement and, after a few minutes of deliberation, they all decided on going to Cook Out.

As was expected, Cook Out was packed. Pidge found a group leaving their table and they quickly walked up to it and took it before anyone else could. Lance silently blessed their small stature.

After they set their stuff down, they walked over to stand in line.

While waiting, Lance nudged Pidge, who was playing around on their phone, and said, “Hey remember that bottle up game I was telling you about?”

Pidge rolled their eyes. “Yeah, you’ve only been talking about it for the past two weeks.”

“Well, they just called me today and they said that they hired me!”

Lance stared at Pidge silently for a moment, waiting for a reaction. Pidge just lightly snorted.

“Woohoo, good job. I’m so proud of you. Now, you can hopefully shut up about it.” Pidge replied in a monotone voice.

Lance put one hand over his heart and started fanning his face with his other hand, pretending to tear up, “Oh my god, I just love how all my friends are just so supportive.”

Pidge rolled their eyes and gave Lance a slight shove with a smile on their face, “Hey, man. I'm kidding. I’m happy you got the job.”

 

***

 

After they ate their food and had a very intelligent debate on whether or not chocolate's candy (Lance being in the minority, saying chocolate's candy), they climbed into Hunk’s car and made their way to drop Pidge off at their house.

“Dude, I’m so fuckin’ hype. I cannot wait until this weekend,” Lance said, bouncing in his seat.

Hunk chuckled. “Yeah, man. I’m definitely gonna visit your booth thing and you can laugh at me while I fail miserably.”

“I just wanna see how many arcade games I can ha- I mean win fair and square,” Pidge smirked.

“Just don’t break any of them, Pidge. We don’t want what happened at the previous fair to happen again,” Hunk cautioned.

“What? It’s not my fault that the kid couldn’t keep his mouth shut.” Pidge crossed their arms over their chest and stared out the window.

Lance turned to look at them, “Pidge, he was only six.”

“Well, he should’ve stopped bragging about how he beat my high score and I wouldn’t’ve had to hack into it.”

Lance pointed a stern finger at them, “If I catch you messing with any of the electronics at the fair, I will be turning you in.”

“Killjoy,” Pidge muttered.

Hunk laughed, “Okay, Pidge. Here you go.”

Hunk pulled into Pidge’s driveway and Pidge hopped out. Before they entered the house, they stopped and gave Lance a sly smile before going inside.

“What the hell was that for?” Lance asked.

As Hunk pulled out, he chuckled said, “I dunno, but I don’t think it’s good, man. You better watch your back.”

Lance rubbed his hands down his face in frustration, “If they get us banned from the fair, I’m gonna kill them.”

Hunk just laughed and the rest of the drive was silent. Lance pulled out his phone and started bragging about getting the job on Facebook. The second he posted it, his family started commenting on the status. His older brother, Miguel, commented ‘Aye, now you can sneak us in for free!’ to which his mother, María, replied ‘No he will not! Excited to see you! Your father and I love you:0)’. His older sister, Josephine, then commented ‘But for realizes, at least sneak us a prize or two;D’. Lance chuckled as the comments kept growing. He misses his family a lot and always tries to Skype them every day. The closer it gets to the end of the semester, the harder it gets to keep in touch with them, but he always manages to find the time for them.

 

***

 

They finally find a parking space and start walking back to their dorm in a comfortable silence. When they got back to the dorm, Lance immediately took out his laptop and waited for his mom to get on. At 10 on the dot. He gets a Skype call request from her and he immediately answers. So he’s a momma’s boy. So what?

“Hey Mom!” Lance waved at the little camera on his laptop.

“Hi, hon! I’m so happy to see you! I hope your day's been well. Oh, I see you back there, Hunk.”

Hearing his mom’s voice never failed to put Lance in a good mood.

“Hey, Mrs. María!” Hunk pulled up a chair and sat next to Lance so he could be in the call, “How’s everyone doin’ over there?”

“Oh, everyone’s doing wonderfully, thanks for asking.” María turned away from the computer and yelled, “Everyone, come say hi to Lance!”

Lance saw his mom reach down and pick up his younger sister, Gabrielle, to put her on her lap.

“Hey, pretty girl! How’s my favorite sister doing?” Lance cooed. Gabrielle only put one of her hands in her mouth and the other hand was reaching out for Lance. Lance could feel his heart break slightly.

María sighed, “We’ve tried everything, but she still isn’t talking. Every once in a while, I’ll think I hear something, but it’s just a garbled mess. She's supposed to be starting preschool next year. I hope she starts talking soon.”

“I may be to blame for that. I probably stole all the words she was supposed to use,” Lance joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Thankfully, his mom started laughing, “Probably. You could talk anybody’s ear off. I’m pretty sure the second you came out, you were talking the doctor to death.”

Hunk started laughing heartily at that, “Oh, I wouldn’t doubt it!”

Lance could hear a small child on the screen saying, “My turn! My turn!”

His mom looked down and chuckled, “Haha, of course. Just wait one second, Carlos. Camilla, can you put Gabrielle to bed for me please?”

"Of course," Lance heard his aunt say. A few moments later, Aunt Camilla comes into view and takes Gabrielle from María. She takes a moment to greet her nephew, "Hey, Lance! How's it goin'?"

"It's going just as well as school can go."

"Yeah, I understand. You already know it's coming, but how's that girl you were talking about last time. I think her name was Nyma?"

Lance felt his face go red at that, "Uhh... She's really cute, but she's hasn't talked to me since we did the project. I think she was only 'into me' for the grade."

Camilla's face soured, "You don't need someone like that," Her face softened, "I'm sure you'll find someone. I met your uncle while I was in Uni. Don't give up."

Lance smiled, "Thanks, Camilla. Love you."

"Love you, too. Alright, I'm gonna put this one to bed. Say 'goodbye', Gabbie," Camilla raised Gabbie's hand and waved for her.

Lance waved back, "Sweet dreams! Don't let the bed bugs bite!"

As Camilla left with Gabrielle, María bent down to pick up Carlos, "Alright, now it's your turn."

As soon as Carlos saw Lance, he immediately started beaming.

“Hey, big guy! How’s school goin’?” Lance asked.

“Oh my gosh, today we made pictures out of _macaroni_ and one of my friends glued his hands together and it was _really_ funny!” Carlos basically had his nose pressed up against the screen.

“Oh, man! That sounds hecka cool! Did you make anything for your favorite brother?”

“Of course! I made a dinosaur one that I gave to Miguel.”

Hunk immediately started laughing again. Lance, however, dramatically put his hand over his heart.

“Well, excuuuuse me! And to think I was gonna let you have my old DS,” Lance crossed his arms over his chest and turned away from the laptop.

“Wait!” Carlos immediately put his face against the screen again, “I’ll make you one! I promise! I want it!”

Lance pretended to think about it, “I gueeeess I can give it to you. Only if the one you give me is better than the one you gave Miguel.”

“Yes! It’ll be ten bajillion gajillion times better!” Carlos pleaded.

Lance pretended to think about it some more and then looked back at Carlos, “Alright, I’ll hold ya to it. You better deliver.”

Carlos sat up straight and saluted. María chuckled and said, “Okay, I think that’s enough. Go get ready for bed. I only let you stay up this long to talk to your brother.”

Carlos groaned and then started lightly stomping off towards his room. María rolled her eyes fondly, “Oh, did I tell you that Josephine is officially going to join the Marines?”

Lance’s heart sank. He tried to talk Josie out of applying, but she was set on joining. He was really hoping she wasn’t going to be accepted. He loved his sister too much to let her risk her life for a country that looked down on people like them. Lance didn’t let it show, though. Not in front of his mom.

“Oh, that’s so great. I’m so happy for her. How’s Angela taking it?” Lance asked.

“Of course, she’s happy for her, but she’s also frightened about what might happen to her. They still have a few months together until she goes into training. The poor thing. They’ve only been married for a few months.”

It was silent for a few moments before Hunk said, “Well, she comes from a tough family. I’m sure she’ll be fine.” He put a comforting arm around Lance.

“Yes, this is what she wants and I support her. She will make a lovely Marine. We’re still going to visit you at the fair. That much has not changed.”

Lance smiled, "Yeah, she's, like, the strongest person ever. She even beat Hunk at arm wresting."

Hunk's face started turning red, "Come on, man. Will you never let me live this down?"

Lance patted Hunk's shoulder, "Now, what kind of friend would I be if I did that?"

María chuckled, “Well, it’s getting late there, so I’ll let you go so you can rest. We’ll see you on Saturday!”

Lance waved at the camera, “Bye, Mom! I love you. See you Saturday.”

“Bye, Mrs. María! It was nice talking to you!”

"Man, have I ever told you that I love your family?” Hunk said as he stood to turn off the lights.

"Yeah, like, every time you see them."

"Well, I do. They're freakin' awesome."

As Lance got ready for bed, he started getting excited for the fair again. All the rides, the food, games, families being happy, spending time with his family. Lance climbed in bed with a smile on his face. He couldn't wait until the fair. He had a really good feeling about it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's gonna focus more on Keith and Shiro's relationship since they weren't in the first chapter. I really appreciate those of you who left kudos. I really wasn't expecting to get anything, tbh. I'll try to update this every few days. Depends on how much free time I have. Also, I don't really know where this story's gonna go or how long it's gonna be. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. I have an idea of where I want it to go, but we'll see.

The next few days seemed to pass by in a blur and Lance was pretty sure all his teachers wanted to see him suffer. He had a project due basically every day and a huge exam for astronomy (That also meant that he spent a lot of time with Nyma, not that he was complaining).

Before he even realized it, he was finished with his last class on Friday.

Lance stepped outside the Math building and exhaled a sigh of relief. Who knew he’d have to do this much math in order to go to space. As he headed down the stairs toward his dorm, he pulled out his phone and texted Hunk and Pidge asking where they were.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, some prick almost runs him over with their skateboard.

Lance happened to glance up from his phone and noticed the skateboarder before it was too late and quickly jumped out of the way. He then whipped around and yelled, “Hey! Watch where you’re going, jerk!”

If the skateboarder had heard him, they didn’t make any effort to respond as they continued on their way.

“God, the nerve of some people these days,” Lance grumbled as he continued on his way. A minute later, his phone vibrates with a text from Hunk saying that he and Pidge are in the University Commons.

When he arrived, he spotted Hunk and Pidge sitting at one of the tables and walked over to join them. Hunk was playing on his phone while Pidge was reading a thick, boring-looking book.

“You guys will not believe what just happened to me,” Lance immediately started as soon as he sat down, “I almost _died_.”

Pidge rolled their eyes and said, “What happened this time? Run into another door?”

Hunk started to laugh while Lance gaped at Pidge with wide eyes, “No! And that happened one time! No, okay. This dick on a skateboard almost ran into me going, like, 100 fucking miles per hour when I left math.”

“Oh, man. Sounds like your life is in terrible danger. We need to call the police, hire bodyguards!” Hunk waved hims arms around with a laugh.

“Yeah, yeah. Laugh all you want. But seriously, what douche rides a skateboard on campus?” Lance crossed his arms over his chest.

“I dunno. I used to be able to ride a skateboard. It’s been a while, though,” Pidge barely glanced up from their book, “I wouldn’t worry too much about it, though. You’ll probably never see them again. Plus, I’m betting it was your fault.”

“What? I’ll have you know that I’m a very attentive person,” Lance puffed out his chest.

“Sure, whatever you say,” Pidge grumbled.

“Whatever, I’m not gonna let it distract me from tomorrow. I have to prepare.”

“What time are you waking up tomorrow?” Hunk asked.

“Well, I gotta be there at 10 to help them set up and then go through orientation or whatever. So, I gotta leave at, like, 9:30?” Lance guessed.

“Alright, and I’m guessing I’m your ride there?” Hunk asked.

“Bingo. I knew I could count on you, buddy,” Lance patted Hunk on the back, “Now, how ‘bout we head over to Pidge’s and play some video games!”

“Oh yeah! Let’s blow this popsicle stand!”

Pidge rolled their eyes with a smile on their face and the three of them made their way over to Hunk’s car.

***

Keith arrived at his brother’s office and took out his earbuds. He was confused when he got a text from Shiro asking him to bring his backpack to the college. Shiro took his work very seriously and wasn’t the kind of person to leave his teaching supplies at home.

He knocked on the door and waited for a few seconds before Shiro opened it and his face immediately broke into a smile.

“Hey, Keith,” Shiro pulled his little brother into a hug, “Thanks for bringing this. You really saved my skin.”

They pulled apart Shiro stepped inside allowing Keith to enter. Keith took a moment and looked around the office.

He’d never been there before and was sort of curious. He noticed that there were a lot of pictures of Shiro and Allura on various dates and there were a few pictures of Shiro when he was about five with his mom. He was about to pick up a picture of their dad, Keith’s mom, and the both of them until he noticed Shiro had closed the door and started moving towards him.

Keith retracted his hand and slid the backpack off his back, “Here you go,” he handed the backpack to Shiro, “I accidentally almost ran over some kid while I was on my over here.”

Panic flashed across Shiro’s face, “What do you mean you almost ran over some kid?”

Keith raised his hands up, “Whoa, calm down. I’m sure he’s fine. He wasn’t paying attention and he almost walked in front of me.”

“Keith…” Shiro cautioned. Oh no. Keith could feel a lecture coming about. That was the last thing he wanted happening. Nothing was worse than when Shiro lectured you.

“So,” Keith quickly said, trying to change the subject, “I don’t understand how you left your stuff at home. You never forget your stuff.”

Shiro looked down and coughed awkwardly, “I… um… I actually wanted to talk to you about something.”

Keith cocked an eyebrow at his brother.

Shiro sighed, “Look,” He started, rubbing his neck, “I didn’t want to ask in case Allura accidentally overhears,” He paused for a moment, looking unsure.

Keith started getting a little anxious and moved to sit down across from Shiro, “Did something happened between you two?”

As if an electric bolt ran through him, Shiro snapped up, “Nonono! It’s not like that. In fact, it’s good news,” Shiro leaned against the corner of his desk and crossed his arms over his chest, “Really good news.”

He paused for a moment, anxiously twiddling his fingers. Keith sat silently and waited for him to continue.

“You remember how Allura and I first met 3 years ago at the fair, right?”

Keith rolled his eyes and nodded. Of course he remembered. It’s not like they bring it up all the time, “Yeah, it was a few months before you were sent off to Iraq.”

“Well,” Shiro explained, “I’m thinking about proposing to her tomorrow night while at the fair.

Keith felt himself smile, “Oh… wow. Congratulations. I know you two are going to be very happy together.”

Shiro smiled, “Thank you. Now, I know how you feel about crowded areas, but it would really mean a lot to me if you were there. You know, for moral support.”

Keith could feel his smile start to fade. He didn’t do very well around people. That was one of the main reasons he dropped out of school.

But this was Shiro. He decided he could make an exception for him.

“Yeah, of course. I’ll go.”

The biggest smiled bloomed on Shiro’s face, “Thank you so much. I’ll make it up to you. I promise.”

Keith waved him off, “Nah, it’s fine. You’re my brother. I know you’d do the same for me.”

He stood up and gave his brother a hug. Shiro stood there in shock for a moment. Keith never initiated contact. Shiro quickly recovered and hugged Keith back.

After a few moments, Keith let go and awkwardly coughed in his fist, “Well, I should probably go. I’ll see you at home.”

“Bye, Keith. Try not to run over anybody on the way there.”

Keith rolled his eyes and exited the building. Once he was outside, he put his earbuds back in and stepped on his skateboard and started making his way back home.

***

“No! You need to hide! She’s right there!” Pidge screamed at Lance. Before he could react, the lady spotted him and caught him. The three of them were in Pidge’s room playing a horror game that was recently released. Pidge was the one to suggest it and because Lance valued Hunk’s health and mental state, he volunteered to play.

How hard could it be?

“Is it over?” Hunk asked. He was huddled on the end of the couch with his hands covering his face.

“Yeah, it’s over ‘cause Lance doesn’t know how to freakin’ play this game,” Pidge huffed, crossing their arms over their chest.

“Well, if I’m so bad, you play it,” Lance supplied. He hated anything horror-related and he sucked at games like these.

“Nope. I’ve already beaten it,” Pidge puffed out their chest triumphantly, “Now, I need you to experience what I went through.”

Lance groaned, “Fine, but I gotta get up early tomorrow.”

Pidge thought about it for a moment and then decided, “Okay, at least get to the first boss fight and then we can call it a night.”

“Deal.”

“While you’re doing that,” Hunk quickly stood up and hurried to the door, “I’m gonna make us some food. I need to do something to calm my nerves.”

“How ‘bout we all take a break,” Lance tried, wanting to put off playing this as much as possible, but Pidge wasn’t having any of it.

“Nope, you’re gonna sit here and play. Based on how you’re playing, it’ll be a week before you get the first boss.”

Lance groaned, “Why are you like this?”

Pidge just smiled and pressed ‘X’ on the controller for him, “Hurry up. We don’t have all night.” 

After about an hour and a half of Lance dying, he finally beat the first boss and he was free from the blood contract Pidge had created for him.

“There! He’s finally dead! Happy?” Lance threw the controller on the couch and jumped up in the air.

“Yo, careful with that!” Pidge yelled, grabbing the controller to make sure it was still good.

“Well, I’m glad that you finally beat it. Now, can we do something that won’t attempt to give me a heart attack constantly?” Hunk asked, eating the last of the brownies he made.

Lance checked the time, “Yeah, it’s not too late. We can play something else for a bit.”

After about two hours of Pidge kicking Lance and Hunk’s asses, Lance decided it was time to head back.

While Lance and Hunk headed to the car, a wave of exhaustion hit Lance.

“Man, who would’ve known that getting rekt in Smash Bros would make me so fuckin’ tired.”

Lance yawned and leaned his head against the window when Hunk started the car and started driving to campus.

Before he could forget, Lance pulled out his phone to text his mom telling her that he won’t be able to Skype her tonight because he was really tired.

Next thing he knew, Hunk was shaking him awake, “Come on, dude. Wake up. I will carry you if I have to.”

Lance just grunted in response. Hunk shrugged and pulled Lance out of the car and put Lance’s arm around his neck and then wrapped his arm around Lance’s torso to support him.

They slowly made their way to the dorm with Hunk easily supporting Lance and Lance trying his best to stay awake.

They finally make it back to the dorm and Hunk carefully laid Lance in bed. Lance sleepily made a mental note to himself to thank Hunk in the morning before he drifted off to sleep.

***

One of the things Keith loved about the park at night was how quiet it is. There were no kids screaming, no college kids messing around. It was just him and nature. It was the perfect time for him to sit and think. And boy, did he have a lot to think about.

He loved his brother and he would do anything for him, but Keith was starting to get anxious just thinking about being around that many people.

His anxiety’s been something that he’s always had to deal with and he was able to deal with it fairly well, but it increasingly got worse once Shiro was drafted into the Army.

Keith was very proud of him at first, but once he was gone, Keith didn’t know how to deal with it. His parents tried to help, but they just couldn’t fully understand what he was going through.

They hired multiple therapists for him, but he never talked to a single one of them. All he wanted was his brother back.

It was only during one of the phone calls he was allowed to have with Shiro when Shiro found out that Keith’s anxiety got worse and he wasn’t allowing anyone to help him.

“Keith, the only way you can get better is if you let them help you. I know it’s hard, but we all care about you and we want you to be the same person you used to be. Please at least try. For me?”

He couldn’t say no to Shiro even if he wanted to. So, for his sake, Keith started being more proactive in his treatment and actually started getting better. He still had his bad days, though.

The day they received the call saying that Shiro was going to be discharged from the Army, Keith was elated. He was finally gonna get his brother back.

But he soon realized his brother wasn’t that same person he was before.

Not only did he physically look different, now having a prosthetic arm and a large scar across his nose, but he wasn’t in a mentally good place either.

Shiro tried to wave everyone off, telling them that he was fine and that they don’t need to worry about him, but he couldn’t hide the dark circles under his eyes or the way he’d flinch when he’d hear someone set something down too hard.

After a month of Shiro being back home, Keith reached his breaking point and had confronted his brother.

“Look, you can’t keep denying it anymore. You need help, Shiro. I hate seeing you like this. You were the one who convinced me to look for help and here you are denying it. Please, Shiro. I just want my brother back.”

It was then Shiro realized that Keith was completely right and promised him that he’d get better.

About a year later, Shiro was accepted into the graduate program at Keith’s college, which also required him to teach a one of the beginning math classes.

Since they were both going to the same college, they decided to move into an apartment with Allura moving in as well, but it wasn’t long after that when Keith dropped out.

Shiro was disappointed in Keith at first, but decided that Keith was old enough to make his own choices and trusted that Keith would be okay if he did, even if he didn’t agree with it.

Keith’s phone then started ringing and he saw that it was Shiro was calling him.

“Yeah?” he greeted once he picked up.

“Hey, where’re you? It’s starting to get late,” Shiro said

“I’m just riding around the park. I’ll be heading back in a bit. Just need to clear my head.”

“Alright, Allura and I are about to start a movie if you want to watch it with us.”

“I’ll pass. I’ll start heading back in a bit.”

“Be careful.”

“I will.”

He hung up and started making his way back home. Their apartment wasn’t in the safest part of town, but it was all they could afford.

To help pay for rent, Allura worked at the local flower shop and Keith worked at a mechanic shop a few blocks away. Shiro worked on campus at the library when he wasn’t in class or teaching.

When he entered the apartment, he saw Shiro sitting on the couch with Allura laying against him with her head on his should and his arm draped over her shoulder.

“What in the world are you guys watching?” Keith asked as he propped his skateboard against the wall.

“Some indie movie we found on Netflix,” Shiro answered, “It’s really bad.”

“It’s very… interesting,” Allura said, but she didn’t sound very sure.

Shiro scoffed, “Well, that’s one word for it.”

“Well, you guys have fun with that. I’m going to go to bed,” Keith yawned, moving towards his room.

“Alright, make sure you get off before two tomorrow so we can have all day at the fair tomorrow,” Shiro turned and pointed at Keith.

Allura gasped and sat up straight, “Wait, you’re going to the fair? I thought you hated it?”

Keith and Shiro exchanged a look, “Uh..” Keith did some quick thinking in his head and turned to Allura, “Shiro convinced me to go. We haven’t gone together since before he joined the army.”

Keith glanced at Shiro and Shiro gave him a thumbs up.

“I’m so glad!” Allura clapped her hands, “It’s going to be so much fun!”

“Yeah. Can’t wait,” Keith gave her a weak smile, “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight. Make sure you take your medication before you go to bed,” Shiro called back to him as Keith opened the door to his room.

“Okay, dad,” Keith mocked, entering his room and closing his door.

Keith took off everything except his boxers and grabbed one of the pill bottles on the table. After he took one, he slid into bed and pulled out his phone so he could scroll through Facebook.

Once the medication started taking effect, he plugged up his phone and slowly drifted off into a deep sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys are ready for the fair next chapter! I know I am:)  
> Feel free to leave a comment or hit me up at cocopbblez@tumblr.com if you have any advice or if there's anything I can do to improve the story, but please don't be a dick. Thank you:D


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit, writer's block is a bitch. I meant to work on this during the weekend, but I didn't get around to it 'cause I'm a procratinating son of a bitch. I made sure I finished it today and hallelujah I did. Hope you lovelies enjoy:)

Keith really needed to change his alarm. He blindly patted around near his head until he found his phone and unlocked it, stopping the alarm.

When he got out of bed a moment later, he opened his closet and grabbed a random shirt and tossed it on his bed. He walked over to his dresser and did the same with the first pair of pants he saw.

He never really cared much for fashion. As long as he was wearing something, he was good to go.

After he got dressed, he took his medication and made his way towards the kitchen. He glanced over at the oven clock, which read 6:23am. He’s never really minded being up this early. He was usually the only one up during this time and he it let him have some alone time before he had to go into work.

Keith reached up and opened the cabinet, grabbing the box of Pop tarts and took one of the packages out. He ripped off a piece and popped it in his mouth as he opened the fridge and grabbed a can of Diet Coke.

His medication never really mixed well with caffeine, so he had to abstain from coffee and good soda. He didn’t really care too much about that, either. He wasn’t a huge fan of coffee in the first place.

By the time it hit 6:50, Keith threw away his trash, pulled on his red leather jacket hanging by the door, grabbed his skateboard, and headed towards Thace’s Auto Shop.

Keith was very lucky to get the job. A family friend knew the owner and put in a good word for him after Keith dropped out of college and had to find a job.

He arrived at the shop a few minutes early, so he was the first one there. What else was new?

At about 5 after, while Keith was setting some stuff up, Thace arrived and took over for Keith.

“Go ahead and get started on the bike. We need to get it done sometime today,” Thace instructed him.

Keith liked Thace. Thace never beat around the bush and told Keith exactly what needed to be done and left him alone to do it. He appreciated that.

“Uh, Thace?”

Thace stopped what he was doing and looked over at Keith with a questioning look on his face.

“I was wondering,” Keith started wringing his hands together, “if it would be possible if I could get off around two today instead of four.”

Thace cocked an eyebrow at him, “Why?”

“My brother’s going to propose to his girlfriend today and he-,” Keith paused for a moment, “and I want to be there with him when he does.”

Thace stared at him for a moment, pondering the request before he nodded.

“Yeah, if you can finish that bike by that time, then you can leave.”

Keith felt a huge weight lift off his shoulders, “Thank you.”

He turned and headed towards the bike. Before getting the job here, Keith knew next to little about any sort of vehicles, but it wasn’t very difficult for him to figure it out. It was like a puzzle to him. After a few months of working here, he was able to fix up just about anything.

***

“Rise and shine, sleepyhead.”

Lance groaned and rolled over in response, earning a sigh from Hunk.

“Come on, man. I even let you sleep in a little, but now you gotta wake up,” Hunk pleaded, grabbing his friend’s shoulders and shaking him, “Waaake uuuup.”

Lance waved off his friend and slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position. He squinted over at Hunk and grumbled, “What time is it?”

“About 15 after 9. We’re leaving in about 15 minutes, so hurry up and get ready.”

Lance groaned again and threw his blanket off his body. He sat there for a few extra moments until he gathered up enough will power to actually get out of bed.

At 9:30 on the dot, Hunk was pushing Lance out the door and to the car. It was about a 20-minute ride, so they had plenty of time to grab some coffee on their way, which Lance was eternally grateful for.

After stopping by Starbuck and grabbing their drinks, Hunk getting a simple iced latte while Lance had to go extra and get a cinnamon dulce latte with extra espresso and a shit ton of sugar, they headed straight towards the fair.

Hunk dropped Lance off at the entrance with about 5 minutes to spare.

“Have fun! Be careful. Remember: stranger danger.!”

“Alright, _mom_ …” Lance shut the door as Hunk started laughing. Lance watched Hunk drive away before he looked over at the entrance. Lance took a deep breath before he started walking towards the security guard standing by the gate.

The guard stopped him when he was within arm’s length.

Just before either of them could say anything, an older man with a bushy mustache came bounding down to the two of them.

“Ah, Jefferson! You haven’t happened to see my pole anywhere? I think I may have misplaced it somewhere around here…”

Lance recognized the voice. This is the man that hired him. Cor-something. God, he sucked at remembering names.

“No, Coran. I saw you set it down when you were trying to pick up a box and almost broke your back,” The guard smirked at him.

“Ah, right. Silly me. Thanks,” As Coran turned to walk away, Lance spoke up.

“Uh… Mr. Coran?”

Coran turned around and regarded Lance with a quirked eyebrow and a hand on his chin. He then popped up as straight as a rod and snapped his fingers.

“Oh, you’re the new kid! You’re the one stepping in for Charles! Lance, right?”

Lance had no idea what he was talking about so he just laughed awkwardly, “Yup. That’s me!”

“Well Lance. Follow me. I’ll take you to our booth,” Coran turned on his heel and started walking to the booth. Even though Lance’s legs were longer, he had trouble keeping with Coran’s pace.

Man, anyone who said Lance talked a lot would eat their words if they ever have a conversation with Coran. The man was giving Lance a ‘basic’ overview of what he needed to do, but Coran would keep getting sidetracked. It seemed that everything he said reminded him of something that happened to him.

The basic gist that Lance got is that for the first two hours, Coran will be in charge of the headset to hook people into playing the game and Lance with just be in charge of taking the money from people and making sure that the people who played only get two tries. This was so Lance could watch what Coran does and get a feel as to how to attract people.

After those two hours, Coran will go on break and it’ll be Lance’s turn to be in charge of the mic for two hours while one of the other workers, Seth, would be in charge of the money. Then, Lance will go on break and Seth will take his spot and Coran with be in charge of the money. They’ll keep this cycle up until it gets to around closing time.

Seemed simple enough. Lance was definitely a people person, so he wasn’t worried at all about attracting customers.

***

Keith finished the bike with about 15 minutes to spare.

Perfect. That gives him time to take a shower and then head out to meet Shiro and Allura at her flower shop.

“Alright I’m heading out. Thanks, Thace. I owe you one,” Keith called, giving Thace a slight wave.

Thace peeked out from where he was messing with the underside of an SUV and gave Keith a thumbs up before returning to what he was doing.

When Keith got to the apartment, he was surprised to see Allura and Shiro in the kitchen making some sandwiches.

“What’s going on here?” Keith asked.

Shiro’s head snapped up and he regarded Keith with a smile, “Hey, Allura had an idea to have a sort of picnic while we were at the fair.”

“So we don’t have to pay the absurd prices for the food there. Plus, we closed shop early, so I had some time to kill.”

“Wanna help out?” Shiro asked with a soft look on his face.

“Um, I was actually planning on taking a quick shower before we left.”

“Alright, that’s fine,” Shiro gave him a warm smile before turning back to what he was doing.

Keith turned and entered his room and went to turn the shower on. Once he undressed, he stepped into the shower and stood there for a second, reveling in the warmness. He quickly washed himself and then turned off the water.

Keith was never one to dawdle in the shower. He didn’t see the point in using more water than you needed.

He dried himself off and put on a new pair of clothes. He stared at the growing pile of clothes in the corner for a moment. He really needed to do laundry. He made a mental note to head to the coin laundry tomorrow and do it. He checked his bowl of coins to see if he still had any coins and was disappointed to find that he only had two quarters left.

Damn. He was going to have to use an ATM at the fair to get what he needed. He made a mental note of that as well.

He exited the room and noticed Shiro and Allura putting the food in bags and putting them in Allura’s purse. Allura’s purse had to have come from some alien planet because you could fit a bunch of shit in there.

“Need any help with that?” Keith asked as he made his way over there.

“We’re just about done here. If you want to, you can put your medication in here, as well,” Allura looked over at him with concern in her face, “Just in case.”

Keith nodded and grabbed a few pill bottles and put them in the purse as well. This’ll be the first time he’d be around that many people since the last time he was at the fair. Which was before Shiro was deployed almost 3 years ago.

Keith hadn’t had a major attack since Shiro was discharged, but it didn’t hurt to be careful.

Once they decided they had everything they needed, they headed out towards Allura’s car. Once they got settled in, they set off.

The more they drove, the more anxious became. He made a terrible mistake. He closed his eyes and pressed his hands together. _Calm down_ , he thought to himself, _You’ll be fine. Everything will be-_

Keith felt a hand sit on his and he looked up to see that Shiro had reached back and put his hand on top of Keith’s. Shiro gave a reassuring squeeze and Keith felt some of his anxiety melt away.

When they finally reached the parking lot in the fair, they were lead to an empty parking spot. Once they parked, Shiro released Keith’s hands and the three of them exited the car and then made their way to gates. Even though the fair wouldn’t officially open for another half hour, the line to buy tickets was still fairly long.

“Good thing we got here when we did.” Shiro mumbled, leading Keith and Allura to the end of the line.

Too keep his mind off the growing line, Shiro engaged Keith in a conversation about his day. After what felt like forever, the line started moving. Before they knew it, Shiro was paying for their tickets and they quickly made their way to the booths to purchase the unlimited ride wristband. They were still getting set up the booths, so they had to endure some more waiting.

After standing there for about 20 minutes, they were finally ready to start giving out wristbands.

“Alright, what should we do first?” Allura asked as they got their wristbands situated.

“I don’t know. What do you want to do, Keith?” Shiro asked.

Keith looked around and spotted an arcade center, “There,” Keith pointed a finger to it, “I want to go there.”

Shiro looked behind him and spotted it, “Perfect. We can hang out there while they start opening the rides.”

 _And there’s not a lot of people there_ , Keith thought.

They played games for the first hour and a half, Shiro barely beating him 90% of the time while Allura played some of the older games off on her own.

“Alright, let’s go see if some of the rides are open now,” Shiro suggested. The three of them left and walked around.

“Shiro!” Allura grabbed his arm, “Let’s go on this one!”

Shiro let her drag her with a smile on her face to the line while Keith stood off to the side to watch. Some of the workers looked over at Keith, smiled, and gestured to him to get on the ride. Keith pinched his lips together and politely waved them off.

The ride started up and Keith watched as the pod that Allura and Shiro were sitting on started to spin and rise up in the air. Soon, they just became a blur and Keith could only see where they were based on Allura’s hair.

The ride started slowing down and then stopped. Allura shot out of her seat and twirled. Shiro laughed at her and then stood up to lead her out. They met back up with Keith and Allura grabbed Keith’s hands.

“Next one, you’re with me.”

Keith couldn’t say no to Allura. She led him away and took him to another ride, this one seeming tamer than the previous one. They switched around partners every ride and after about a half hour of rides, Keith took a moment after a ride to catch his breath.

“Everything okay?” Shiro leaned in next to him so he could see Keith’s face.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Keith took a few deep breaths and then stood up straight, “Can we just walk around for a bit?”

“Yeah. That’ll be fine. We can try out some of the games.”

“They’re all rigged, though. Aren’t they?” Allura asked.

“Yeah, but let’s see how well these games go with these guns,” Shiro flexed his arms and Keith barked out a laugh.

“You’re an idiot.”

“Yes, but he’s my idiot,” Allura cooed, giving Shiro a quick kiss, “Now, go win me an animal.”

Allura put on a stern face and pointed to the area most of the games were in.

Shiro rolled his eyes with a laugh and followed Allura. He looked back at Keith.

“You coming?”

“Yeah, you guys go on without me. I’ll be fine.”

“Alright. We’ll just be over there.”

Keith rolled his eyes, “I’ll be fine. Go with your wife.”

Shiro blushed at that and then turned and quickly made his way to where Allura was.

Keith walked to the nearest bench and sat down. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back. He forced himself to tune out the loud children and the screams so he could try to control his breathing.

He knew Shiro was just trying to take care of him, but it became a little too much at times. Keith wasn’t a little kid anymore. He doesn’t need Shiro babying him every time Keith got a little worked up.

Once he felt better enough to join back up with Shiro and Allura, he got up and walked towards the games.

Keith took his time and stopped at each booth and watched. Most of these games were obviously rigged. He wasn’t dumb enough to waste money on something he was destined to fail.

He smiled at himself at the poor souls who thought they had a legitimate chance at winning. Sure, he felt bad for them, but it was still enduring to watch.

“It’s only five dollars for two tries people and two tries is all it takes! It’s so easy, my grandma can do it!”

Keith turned towards the direction of the voice. As loud as the crowd in this area was, he could still hear the voice as clear as day. For some reason, Keith couldn’t help but be drawn to it. He sure as hell couldn’t miss it.

 _Well, this has got to be good_ , Keith thought as he made his way toward the direction of the voice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooooh shit.  
> Also, the part with Keith and co. waiting was my experience while I was a the fair. Not to mention it was hot as fuck. It was so much fuckin' fun, though. Next chapter will actually have some Klance happenin's, so stay tuned:)  
> Hit me up in the comments or at cocopbblez.tumblr.com  
> I'd really appreciate it:) Love you all:D


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, this took forever to write. Whenever I had the time to write, writer's block stopped me. Whenever I wanted to write, schoolwork stopped me. I forced myself to finish this chapter today because I hate myself:)

Lance was a natural at this. The first hour or so, there were only a few people milling about, so they didn’t get a lot of business.

In the meantime, Lance was practicing with the bottles to entertain himself. It really wasn’t that hard once you’ve done it enough times.

“Wow, it’s so strange to actually see you working.”

Lance turned towards the voice and a huge grin broke his face.

“Hunk! Pidge! You guys actually came!” When they got closer to the booth, Lance reached out and gave them each a hug. Hunk happily accepted, squeezing Lance so hard he couldn’t breathe for a second. Pidge just stood there as Lance hugged them and then gave him a small pat on the back.

“No way we’d miss out on your first ever job,” Pidge crossed their arms over their chest with a smirk on their face.

“They grow up so fast, don’t they?” Hunk wiped a pretend tear off his face and fanned his face with his hand.

Lance rolled his eyes, “Yeah? Well, I don’t see you guys working!” Lance frowned.

“I’m just a small child. I’m not allowed to work,” Pidge said in a mock baby voice.

“Yeah, and I’m too busy with classes,” Hunk said.

“Not to mention taking care of your dumb ass,” Pidge playfully pushed Lance with a smirk on their face.

Lance was about to make a comeback when Coran suddenly appeared next to him.

“Alright, Lance. It’s almost time for you to take over. This is a very serious position and I want to make sure you’re prepare to take on this great responsibility,” Coran looked over and saw Hunk and Pidge, “Are these your friends?”

“Yeah,” Lance stepped between Hunk and Pidge and put his arms over their shoulders, “This is Hunk and Pidge. Guys, this is my boss, Coran.”

Lance noticed that they seemed to be getting some business, so he put his arms down and stepped back in the booth.

He turned back to his friends, “Alright, I gotta start working now. I’ll meet up with you guys when I get the chance.”

Pidge gave him a thumbs up while Hunk saluted him and then the both of them walked off.

It started getting really busy about a half hour before Lance was supposed to take the mic. Lots of parents trying to win stuffed animals for their kids and lots of boyfriends pressured by their girlfriends to get them a prize.

Lance tried his best to help everyone figure out how to do it. He’d wait until they used their first try and then he’d try to show them how to do it. However, they were never able to do it their second try.

He would also catch a lot of the people, teenagers mostly, trying more than twice. He figured he’d let it slide the first few attempts they would take after their second time, but would call them out after that.

“I know you all will miss me, but I must step down now. Be back in a tic!” With that, Coran took off his headset and handed it to Lance. Lance put the money he was holding in the tin box that was in the middle and then took the headset.

Lance took a deep breath and started shouting into the mic anything he thought of that would get people to come over and try to play.

Every once in a while, he’d switch to an old carny voice or he’d point out someone trying to do it and have a little fun with them.

Lance noticed a girl standing very close to a guy who seemed to be concentrating really hard on the game. Lance smirked a little to himself and made his way to them.

“You know, how you play this game really shows how you treat your lady,” Lance crossed his arms and leaned up against the railing.

Lance noticed the guy was trying really hard to ignore him and just went for it. Lance tsked and shook his head.

“You’re doing it too rough. You have to treat the bottle like a lady,” Lance stepped over the railing and grabbed a pole, “You have to be slow and gentle.”

Lance slowly placed the ring at the end of the string around the neck of the bottle and lifted it up just a few inches.

“If you go before she’s ready, it won’t work. You gotta wait until she’s settled,” Lance slowly leaned forward once the bottle stopped swaying and stopped once the bottle was upright, “And just like that, you’ve won.”

The girl lightly put her hand on the guy’s shoulder and the guy steeled himself before trying again. He went a little slower this time and managed to get the bottle upright.

The girl squealed and the guy picked her up and twirled her around. After a brief kiss, Lance crossed back over the railing and gave them the animal they wanted.

This is what Lance lived for. He was a huge romantic at heart and it the scene made him feel warm inside.

“Al, why don’t you ever do things like that with me?”

Lance felt the warmth in his chest blossom once he heard that voice. He quickly turned towards it and saw María and Alejandro standing in the crowd with his other siblings.

Lance turned off his mic and rushed to where they were, “Mom! Dad!”

He gave them a quick hug and turned his headset back on. He looked at Gabrielle and rubbed her head.

“Hey, girlie,” Lance cooed at her. Suddenly, an idea popped in his head, “You know what? Do you wanna help me out with something?”

Gabrielle reached out for him.

“Well, I’ll take that as a yes,” he grabbed his sister out of his mom’s arms carried her as he walked around the booth again. He stepped over the railing again and grabbed a pole with his free hand.

“Now, I’m gonna show you all that it’s possible even though I’m slightly hindered at the moment.”

Gabrielle squealed with glee as Lance started to lean forward to make the bottle stand up. Once the bottle was upright and stable, Lance leaned the rest of the way down and dipped her. She started giggling and tightly wrapped her arms around his neck.

He stood back up with a huge smile on his face. He walked back over to María, who was hiding a grin behind her hand, and gave his sister back to her as he turned his headset back off.

“Sorry, mom. Just wanted to show off,” Lance shrugged.

María playfully slapped him in the back of the head, “Don’t scare me like that! You could’ve dropped her!”

“Yeah, but I didn’t,” Lance winked and put up finger guns at her.

María rolled her eyes, “Alright, you seem to be busy,” she looked around at the growing crowd, “so we’ll let you go. Call me when you get off.”

“Will do,” He waved at his family as they left and continued on attracting customers. Man, he loved this job, “It’s only five dollars for two tries people and two tries is all it takes! It’s so easy, my grandma can do it!”

He continued walking around the booth critiquing people. When one girl stormed off after failing for the tenth time, someone else stepped forward to take her place.

The guy looked very familiar to Lance, but at the moment, Lance was taken aback by how attractive he was. _Focus, Lance. This isn’t the time_.

“Hey, you seem like someone who’d treat these bottles right,” Lance wagged his eyebrows at the boy, “Wanna give it a try, Mullet?”

The guy gave him a questioning look and then softly scoffed with a smirk. He fished out five dollars out of his wallet and handed it to Lance.

“Ooh, aren’t you a cocky one,” Lance said as he took the money, “Lemme show you and everyone else the proper form, first.”

Lance stepped over the railing and moved to stand behind him and put one hand on the small of Mullet’s back and his other hand on Mullet’s arm, lifting it up. Lance was close enough to him to smell what was probably his new favorite smell. _Stop being weird,_ Lance thought to himself.

“You gotta keep your back straight and your arm outstretched in front of you. Once you think the bottle’s ready, you gotta lean up against the railing. Don’t worry, it won’t break.”

Lance moved away and watched as Mullet tried and failed to stand the bottle up. When Lance leaned down to set the bottle back, he noticed that Mullet kept his head down and the tips of his ears were tinged pink.

“You gotta make use of the railings to do it,” Lance stood at the station next to him and demonstrated for him. Mullet continued to look at the ground and made no effort to watch him. _Wow, what an asshole,_ Lance thought as he stepped back to let him make another attempt. Mullet tried again, but it fell over again.

Lance was about to make a suggestion, but the guy thrust another five in his face.

“One more time,” The guy said through gritted teeth.

Lance took the money and watched as Mullet tried and failed again with a shaking hand. Lance didn’t understand why he was getting so mad at the game. Rarely anyone was able to do it.

As soon as Lance set the bottle back, Mullet immediately went to try again and failed. He groaned loudly in frustration.

“Whoa, buddy. Calm down. It’s okay if you can’t get it. It’s not the end of the world,” Lance turned off his mic and walked closer to the guy, “If you want, I get off in about half an hour. If meet me by that bench over there,” Lance pointed, “I can give you private lessons.”

Lance stepped back and waited for him to respond, but Mullet just immediately turned and left.

Lance stood there dumbfounded for a second. _What’s his problem?_ Lance thought. He shrugged it off though. He’ll probably never see him again.

A few minutes before he was scheduled to go on break, Lance glanced over and noticed that Mullet guy from earlier was sitting in the bench Lance had pointed at earlier.

For some reason, Lance felt butterflies in his stomach. He’s actually gonna take him up on his offer? When Seth came over to him to take the headset, Lance ran for the truck that kept their supplies.

Once he had everything he needed, he walked over to where Mullet looked like he was just about the leave.

Lance rushed over to him, “Whoa, where are you going? We haven’t even begun yet.”

Mullet stopped and turned towards him, “I didn’t know if you were being serious or not.”

“Of course I’m serious. I don’t give free lessons to complete strangers every day.”

Mullet looked down and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. He pointed to the bag that Lance was holding, “What’s that?”

“These are my teaching materials,” Lance extended his hand to a secluded area behind one of the booths, “Well, let’s get started, shall we?”

Mullet nodded and Lance started heading to the practice area. As he got everything set up, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Mullet was leaning up against a nearby tree and was watching him.

Lance chuckled, “Like what you see, Mullet?”

Mullet turned his head away and Lance noticed some red on his cheeks appear. Then, as if he just registered what Lance said, he snapped his head back in Lance’s direction.

“What do you mean ‘Mullet’?” Keith asked.

Lance paused what he was doing and looked at him incredulously, “I don’t know if you know this, but that haircut you have is a mullet. You know, business in the front, party in the back.”

Mullet shrugged, “I’ve never really noticed. It’s not bothering me, so I don’t feel the need to cut it.”

Lance rolled his eyes, “Whatever you say, Mullet.”

“Stop calling me that. My name’s Keith, not ‘Mullet’,” Keith retorted, using air quotes when he said ‘Mullet’.

“Alright, _Keith,_ ” Lance smiled, “I’m Lance.”

They stared at each other for a few moments before Lance awkwardly coughed, “Alright,” He said as he stood up, “Let’s get this show on the road.”

Lance motioned Keith to stand next to him.

“Now, you had good form when you were doing it, but you were going way to fast. You were too eager. You were also way too stiff. You gotta relax.”

At that, Lance started jumping and shaking his hands, “We’re gonna start off with some warm ups. Now, do what I’m doing.”

Keith rolled his eyes with a smile and took his hands out of his pockets as he halfheartedly started copying Lance.

“Come on, dude. You’re too uptight. No one’s here to see you. Go crazy!” Lance closed his eyes and started jumping around, twisting and contorting his body, and swinging his arms around.

Lance heard Keith start laughing and he opened his eyes to see what he was doing and couldn’t help but stare with awe. Keith was jumping in place shaking his arms looking like he was having the time of his life. Seeing Keith like that made something inside Lance stir.

“Alright,” Lance said before he could accidentally say something dumb, “I think we’re relaxed enough. Let’s actually start.”

They approached Lance’s set up and Lance handed Keith a spare pole, “Now, we don’t have the railing for you to lean up on, so I’m gonna support you with my hand. That sound good?”

Keith nodded and faced the bottle. Lance gently put his hand on Keith’s chest and he could feel that Keith was _very_ fit.

Lance felt his face heat up at the thought. _Stop thinking about it. Stop thinking about it,_ Lance thought as Keith leaned forward. Lance tightened his arm so he could keep Keith up. Lance looked down at the bottle and noticed it was standing straight up.

“Hey! We did it,” Lance said as he pushed Keith back into a standing position, “We are a good team.”

Keith laughed softly, “You say it like it was hard.”

“Well,” Lance looked at him with a cocked eyebrow, “You seemed to be having a lot of trouble earlier.”

Keith’s eyes got wide and he looked away, “Uh, yeah. There was just a lot of people and I felt them all watching me and I got nervous so I fucked up and I was embarrassed and then I started getting angry because it’s so simple I shouldn’t have been having as much trouble as I was having and-”

Keith stopped himself and looked at Lance.

“Uh,” Keith awkwardly coughed in his hand, “Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. We all get that way every once in a while. It’s good to vent. Like, I remember one time my sister… Aw, shit!”

Lance took his phone out of his pocket and looked for his mom’s number, “I promised I’d call her when I went on break.”

Before he pressed the ‘Call’ button, he looked up at Keith and held his hand out, “Here, give me your phone.”

Keith self-consciously crossed his arms over his chest, “Why?”

Lance rolled his eyes, “To see how far I can shove it up my ass. I’m gonna give you my number.”

Keith stared at Lance’s outstretched arm for a moment before he pulled out his phone and gave it to him.

Lance made a face, “Ew, didn’t know you had an Android. Sorry, we can’t be friends anymore,” Lance crossed his arms over his chest and stuck his chin out.

Keith scoffed, “We had a bonding moment. _We jumped around like idiots._ ”

“Nope, don’t remember it,” Lance turned away, “Didn’t happen.”

Lance laughed and started putting his number in Keith’s phone, “I’m just joshin’ ya.”

Lance felt his heart sink a bit when he saw that Keith only had a handful of contacts. Lance made the decision to make sure Keith never felt like he was alone.

Once he was done, he texted himself so he’d have Keith’s number as well and then gave Keith his phone back.

“Alright, I gotta go before my mom internally combusts,” Lance started walking backwards towards the fair, “I’ll see you around?”

“Yeah.”

“Okie dokie. You know where to find me!” Lance turned so he could walk normally and called his mom on his phone.

It worried him a bit that he forgot about his family. He then thought about the carefree look on Keith’s face when they were jumping around and it brought a smile to his face. _Totally worth it._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment or message me at cocopbblez@tumblr.com. I'd really appreciate it:)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Goddamn, writing's a bitch. Hope you enjoy:)

Keith watched Lance for a few moments and then glanced down at his phone. _LeggyLance;)_. He rolled his eyes with a soft smile and then felt his stomach growl. He frowned. He needed to regroup with Shiro and Allura if he wanted something to eat. He scrolled through his contacts until he found Shiro and called him.

His phone rang a few times before his brother picked up.

“Hey, Keith. Where’d you go? Allura and I have been looking for you.”

“I just needed to be alone for a while, but now I’m hungry. Where are you guys?”

“We’re over by the Ferris Wheel.”

“Okay, I’m on my way over now.”

“We’ll be on the lookout for you.”

With that, Keith hung up and headed over to the Ferris Wheel. He looked down at his phone and just stared at Lance’s name in his phone.

Keith had no idea what had compelled him to be so open around Lance. Keith wasn’t exactly a people person. If anything, he avoided people altogether. But there was something about Lance that made him feel like he could relax and have fun. It was a nice feeling.

As he approached the Ferris Wheel, he noticed Shiro and Allura setting up a blanket near the trees. Shiro glanced up and noticed Keith was there and he smiled.

“There he is,” Shiro straightened up and put his hands on his hips, “Nice of you to join us.”

Keith rolled his eyes, “Whatever. Where’s the food? I’m starving.”

Allura laughed while she opened her purse and distributed the food to the brothers.

“So, where were you, Keith?” Allura asked just before she took her first bite.

Keith shrugged, “I was just walking around. Tried my hand at one of the games.”

“Oh,” Allura clapped her hand together, “I love games. What did you play?”

“That bottle game or whatever. It’s pretty easy,” Keith took a bite of his sandwich.

Allura excitedly turned to Shiro, “After this, you are getting me a prize,” She pointed a firm finger in his direction.

Shiro put his hand on his chest and did a slight bow, “Your wish is my command, Princess.”

Keith pretended to puke, “Come on, Shiro. Don’t make me barf. I’m eating.”

Shiro just laughed and rubbed the top of Keith’s head, “Once you find somebody, you’ll be taking pages out of my book. Trust me.”

Keith pushed Shiro’s hand away with a slight smile, “Yeah, whatever.”

“So, where’s your prize?” Allura asked, glancing around Keith.

“I, uh…” Keith didn’t want to tell them about what had gone down at the booth, “I wasn’t able to do it at the booth.”

“I assume you were able to do it since you said it was easy,” Allura said, slightly cocking her head to the side.

“The guy who was working there helped me,” Keith could feel his face grow warm, “He took me out to the woods and showed me how to do.”

“Well, that’s nice of him,” Allura said, finishing her sandwich.

Shiro, however, suspiciously cocked an eyebrow, “You went into the woods with a complete stranger?”

Keith rolled his eyes, “I’m not stupid, Shiro. He didn’t seem dangerous. He was,” Keith looked down at the blanket with a soft smile on his face, “really nice.”

Shiro and Allura exchanged a knowing glance and then looked back at Keith.

“Well, I’m glad you’re making friends. What’s his name?” Allura asked.

“Lance.”

Shiro looked up to the sky and scrunched his face up, “Lance… Why does that name sound familiar?”

“How funny would it be if he was one of your students?” Allura joked.

Shiro chuckled, “That would be interesting. I don’t know.”

Allura rubbed her hands together to get rid of the crumbs and stood up, “Well, I need to use the bathroom. Be back in a tic.”

As Allura walked away, Shiro leaned up towards Keith.

“So, I figured out how I’m going to propose to Allura,” Shiro whispered.

Keith leaned towards Shiro and nodded.

“All I want you to do for me is to find us near the Ferris Wheel around 9 because that’s when I’m going to do it. That is the whole reason I dragged you here anyway.”

Keith nodded, “Don’t worry. I’ll be there.”

“Good. If not,” Shiro leaned away and pointed a finger at him, “I’m kicking your ass.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll kick my own ass if I’m not there.”

Shiro glanced behind Keith and moved back into his original position as Allura returned.

“Did I miss anything interesting?” She asked.

“Nah, we were just talking shit about you.” Keith muttered with the wave of his hand.

Allura laughed, “Good. Didn’t want to miss something important.”

Shiro gave Keith a knowing wink and stood up, “Well, I think we’ve eaten enough. Let’s go have some fun.”

“No rides, though. Don’t want anyone puking and making a mess of themselves.” Allura warned.

“Alright, _mom_.” Keith mocked while standing up.

They put their stuff away and threw away their trash as they made their way to the games.

***

“Ayeo, ma. Where you at?” Lance asked when María answered her phone.

“Oh, are you on break?”

Lance rolled his eyes, “Nah, I can never leave this job ever again. I’m stuck forever. They only let me call one person before I sign myself into servitude.”

He heard his mom chuckle, “Well, I’m glad you thought of me. I would hate to not be able to at least hear your voice one last time.”

Lance laughed, “Okay, seriously, though. Where are you?”

“We’re in the arcade. The kids are causing a ruckus as usual. I’m pretty sure you’ll be able to hear us from across the fair.”

“Okay, I’m on my way. I’ll be there in a few.”

“Alright, hun. Love you.”

“Love you, too,” Lance hung up and made his way over to where he believed the arcade was.

As he made his way to his family, he couldn’t stop thinking about Keith. The dude seemed to seriously have some problems, but honestly, who doesn’t. Plus, he needed some friends. Keith’s lack of contacts made Lance feel kind of bad for him.

As he approached the arcade, he heard the unmistakable voice of Carlos yelling at a game. A smile grew in Lance’s face as he sneaked to the entrance and peaked in.

He saw Carlos playing some old 80’s game and started tiptoeing to him. He glanced over and he saw the Miguel was about to call him over. Lance quickly made a motion to tell him not to say anything and Miguel immediately shut his mouth and gave Lance a thumbs-up.

When Lance got close enough, he wrapped his arms around Carlos’s torso and picked him up spinning him around. Carlos squeaked as he was lifted in the air.

“What?! Who is-” He turned his head and saw that it was Lance and started punching at Lance’s arms, “Lance! Put me down! I was about to beat my high score!”

Lance laughed, “Sorry, Carlos. You’re just so cute. I couldn’t help myself,” Lance set Carlos down and ruffled his hair, “You still have a life left. Not all is lost, dude.”

Lance stayed by Carlos as he blasted away at the 8-bit asteroids. For a 5-year-old, Carlos was really fucking good at this game. He was playing it as if he had been playing it for years. After what felt like an hour, Carlos finally died and just barely beat the high score.

“Yes!!” Carlos screamed, jumping up and down.

“Holy shit! Nice!” Lance gave Carlos a double high five, “Knew you could do it.”

“Ooooh,” Carlos looked up at Lance with a shit-eating grin, “You said a baaad wooord.”

Lance rolled his eyes, “Oh, cry me a table, Carlos. Go play another game or somethin’.”

“I don’t have any more coins, though. I’m gonna ask mom to give me some more.”

“Yeah, good luck with that, kiddo.”

Lance watched as Carlos ran to where their parents were sitting and then made his way to where Josephine and Miguel were playing some racing game. Josephine and Miguel are probably the most competitive siblings Lance had ever seen. They always managed to turn even the most mundane activities into a competition.

“Haha, how does being in second place feel?” Miguel taunted as his car raced past Josephine’s.

Then, Josephine’s car bashed into the side of the car during the turn causing Miguel’s car to lose control.

“I don’t know. Maybe you can tell me.” Josephine countered with a smirk on her face.

“Man,” Lance laughed, “You guys are ridiculous.”

“Oh, fuck off, Lance,” Miguel muttered as he regained control of his car and sped up to catch up to Josephine, “Need to focus.”

Lance chuckled as he shook his head. He silently watched as Josephine and Miguel bickered at each other. In the end, Miguel beat Josephine by a hundredth of a second.

“HahaHA!” Miguel threw his hands up in victory, “Take that, Josie!”

“Yeah, yeah. Celebrate all you want. Next time, I won’t go easy on you,” Josephine stated, patting Miguel on the back.

“Oh, _sure_ you were. Admit it, I beat you fair and square,” Miguel said as he climbed out of the chair.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Josephine said with a smile on her face, “Let’s just regroup with mom and them now that Lance’s slow ass finally showed up.”

“Excuse you,” Lance exclaimed with a scoff as they started to walk back to the rest of the family, “At least my slow ass didn’t lose against _Miguel’s_ old ass _._ ”

Miguel laughed, “Hey, 24’s not that old.”

“Alright, grandpa. You keep telling yourself that,” Lance said as he playfully punched Miguel’s shoulder.

Then, Miguel suddenly put Lance in a headlock and gave him a noogie. Lance squirmed under him, trying to get loose.

“What the hell?! Let me go!” Lance laughed.

“Miguel, leave the poor kid alone. Lord knows he can’t lose whatever brain cells he has left,” Lance heard his mom say.

“Yeah, listen to mom and let me go.”

Miguel released Lance and strolled over to their mom as Lance rubbed the top of his head. He hated when Miguel did that. It hurt like hell.

Lance glanced over at his mom and saw Gabrielle was playing with María necklace. Lance smiled and squatted in front of her.

“There’s my favorite sister! Are you having fun?” Lance asked.

Gabrielle only giggled in response and reached out to Lance. He picked her up and swung her around in a circle.

“You’ll talk one day. I know it. A big mouth runs in the family, you know.”

“Oh, yeah. Lance knows that better than any of us,” Miguel joked, taking Gabrielle out of Lance’s hands and setting her down. She walked over to María and started playing with her bracelets.

“Well, now that Lance finally graced us with his presence, let’s go on some rides!” Josephine exclaimed, grabbing Angela’s hand and attempted to run out ahead of everyone else.

“Josie, hun. Wait for the rest of the family,” Angela protested, halting Josephine.

Josephine pouted

“But I wanna play!” Josephine said in a mock child’s voice and stomped her foot on the ground.

“Wow, didn’t know I married a 5-year-old,” Angela said, rolling her eyes fondly.

“Before we head out, I need to get a head count to make sure we have everyone.” Alejandro stated, getting up from the bench he and María we sitting on.

Once he made sure everyone was there, Alejandro said, “Okay, we have everyone. Let’s go ahead and head out.”

At that, all the kids ran out.

“But stay together and be careful!” María shouted out to them.

Lance turned around and called out to his mom while walking backwards, “You know me, mom. I’m always care-”

Before he could finish, he slipped on a napkin that was on the ground and fell to the ground.

Laughter erupted from the family as Miguel reached down to pick Lance up.

“Goddamn, Lance,” Lance heard a familiar face say.

Lance glanced over and saw Hunk and Pidge standing there, laughing their asses off.

Lance put his hands on his hips and puffed his chest out, “I totally meant to do that guys. I was… uh… demonstrating how important it is not to litter!” Lance exclaimed, snatching up the napkin and throwing it away.

“Yeah, sure you were,” Pidge said, wiping a tear off their face.

“I’m so glad we found you when we did, dude. You just made my day,” Hunk said.

“Yeah, whatever,” Lance said turning away from everyone, “Let’s just go on some of these rides already. I only have an hour left of my break.”

And with that, Lance and company went on ride after ride. He and Pidge made a secret bet after the second ride about when they thought Hunk would puke. To Lance’s dismay, Pidge won when Hunk immediately puked after they set the bet. Lance reluctantly forked over twenty bucks.

Once it started nearing 8, Lance’s family had to leave.

“Okay, kiddos. It’s time for us to go home. We have to make sure grandmom and grandpop haven’t burnt the house down.” María stated.

Carlos groaned, “Aww, do we have to?”

Alejandro laughed and picked up Carlos, “Come on, big man. It’s almost your bedtime, too.”

“But I’m not tired,” Carlos yawned as he laid his head against his dad’s shoulder.

After several rounds of hugs, Lance waved goodbye to his family and started walking back to the booth with Hunk and Pidge in tow.

“So, how’s the gig goin’? You enjoying it?” Hunk asked.

“Yeah, dude. It’s so cool,” Lance supplied, “You meet a lot of… interesting people.”

Lance’s stomach filled with butterflies as he started thinking about Keith. The image of Keith jumping around with a carefree look on his face did something to Lance. Lance didn’t believe in love at first sight, but there was something about Keith that roused curiosity out of Lance. He wanted to know more about him.

He hadn’t felt this way about anyone in a long time. He basically gave up on dating after his last relationship ended pretty bad. It wasn’t a particularly good memory.

“Hello? Earth to Lance,” Hunk waved a hand in front of Lance’s face.

“What?” Lance shook his head and felt his face grow warm, “Sorry, I kind of zoned out there.”

Pidge gave Lance a knowing glance, but they didn’t say anything.

“Okay,” Hunk said uncertainly, “Sure. Well, I’m gonna go ahead and take Pidge home. I got tons of homework to do.”

“Yeah, same. It’s so tempting to put it off until tomorrow, but then I’d definitely want to kill myself.”

“Well, you guys have fun with that. Hunk, I’ll give you a call when I’m finished.”

“Gotcha, see you later.”

After Hunk and Pidge headed towards the entrance, Lance took out his phone and found Keith’s number. He _really_ wanted to hand out with Keith more and he didn’t know why. He had to go back to work soon, though. Unless…

Lance sped back to booth and approached Coran, who was collecting money while Seth was on headset duty.

“Hey, Coran. Can I talk to you about something?”

Coran glanced over at him and cocked an eyebrow, “What is it, Lance?”

“I have some… family stuff going on right now and I need someone to take my spot while I deal with it,” Lance fidgeted with his jacket.

Coran slightly tilted his head to the side, “You do realize that Seth is supposed to go on break, right?”

“Yeah, I know and I feel really shitty, but I gotta deal with it.”

Coran looked up and petted his mustache in thought. After a few seconds of deliberation, he looked back at Lance and nodded.

“Alright, _but,_ ” Coran pointed a finger up, “You have to take Seth’s spot after the fair and help put stuff away.”

“Deal!”

They shook hands and Lance sped away. Holy shit, he can’t believe he got away with it. Lance was a terrible liar and he knew it. He felt bad that he used his family to dip out of work, but this was very important.

Lance took out his phone and called Keith.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait. I've been dealing with some stuff and I haven't had the time or want to write this. Things are starting to get better, though. So, here's the next chapter. It's pretty Shallura heavy, but it's still overall a Klance story, so bare with me. Shiro just deserves some happiness, especially after the end of season. Also, there is a panic attack in this story, so if you don't feel comfortable reading about it, stop reading after the * and you can start reading again at the second *. It's fairly short, but it may still be triggering. Whelp, hope you enjoy:)

While waiting in line for one of the rides, Keith pulled his phone out of his pocket and noticed that he had two missed calls and a text from Lance. Suddenly being acutely aware of his heartbeat, he opened it.

**_LeggyLance:) – 20:03_ **

_the fam left and now im bored:( wanna hang?_

Keith could feel his face become slightly warm, so he angled his head away from Shiro and Allura to send Lance a response.

**_You – 20:03_ **

_Sure we’re at the weird ufo looking ride_

**_LeggyLance:) – 20:04_ **

_aw hell yeah! i love tht thingxD_

_omw_

As Keith was trying to decipher what Lance had sent him, Shiro had leaned over his shoulder.

“Who you textin’?” He asked.

Keith jumped, almost dropping his phone, “Dude, what the hell?” He pulled his phone closer to his chest, “It’s Lance. He wants to hang out.”

Allura instantly perked up, “Oh! I want to meet this Lance!”

“Well,” Keith said, “You’re about to.”

After a few minutes, Keith hears a familiar voice behind him, “There’s that mullet!”

Keith turned around and saw Lance walking towards them. Shiro laughed and took a closer look at Keith’s hair, “Mullet?”

Keith unconsciously combed his fingers through his hair, “Thanks,” he mumbled.

As Lance swung under the bar to join them in line, Allura stepped toward him, “You must be Lance. I’m Allura.”

Lance stood there like a deer stuck in headlights staring at Allura. To save him from embarrassment, Keith stepped in, “Yeah, this is my brother, Shiro,” he gestured at Shiro, “and this is his girlfriend, Allura.”

“Mr. Takashi?!” Lance gaped at Shiro.

Shiro smiled, “I thought the name ‘Lance’ sounded familiar.”

Keith cocked his head, “Do you guys know each other?”

“Yeah, he’s my calc teacher. This is funny.” Lance explained.

Shiro chuckled, “Small world.”

“Just wanna let you know, math sucks ass, but your class is one of my favorites. A plus.” Lance winked and made an okay gesture with his hand.

“Well, I do my best.”

Lance turned to Keith, “Does that mean you go to that school, too?”

The air around the group became awkward and Keith hung his head down, “No.”

Not sensing the tension, Lance continued, “Are you sure? I’m pretty sure I’ve seen you-”

“No, I don’t!” Keith snapped. He glanced up at Lance and noticed he had his hands in the air and instantly felt bad.

“Whoa, calm down there. Just a harmless question.”

Keith remained silent, so Shiro started asking Lance about college. Once they finally got in the ride, they each walked to one of the pods.

“This ride’s one of my favorites,” Lance informed Keith as made himself comfortable in the pod next to him.

“Where are the seats belts?” Keith asked, patting around his pod.

“On this ride, you won’t need,” Lance pretended to put glasses on, “seatbelts.”

Keith cocked his head questioningly.

“Doc and Marty? Back to the Future?”

Keith furrowed his brow.

“You’ve never seen Back to the Future?!” Lance exclaimed.

“No and why aren’t there seatbelts?”

Lance rolled his eyes, “Because when the ride starts spinning, the centrifugal force keeps you pressed up against the pad. The best thing to do on this ride is to try to turn yourself around and climb to the top of the mat.”

Keith felt a flurry of anxiety build up in him, “Is this safe?”

Lance waved a hand, “Of course. My siblings and I ride this all the time. Just watch me and try to do what I do.”

Keith pressed himself up against the pad and tried to control his breathing. _It’s going to be fine. It’s going to be fine._ he kept thinking to himself. He saw an older woman get one with a little girl he assumed was her daughter. _If she can do it, you can do it. If she can do it, you can do it._

The ride then started spinning and as Keith could feel it getting faster and faster, he started to feel his body get pressed into the mat. He looked over at Lance and felt whatever air he had left in him leave.

Lance had his eyes closed and had the biggest smile on his face. He let out a yell and then opened his eyes. Keith quickly looked away and stared forward.

“Hey, Keith! Watch this!”

Keith looked back at Lance and watched as he bent his legs and pushed off. He turned his body so now it looked like he was laying on his stomach. He then slowly inched his way up until he was a few feet from the ground.

“Try it!” Lance yelled down at him.

Keith took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he bent his legs. He counted to three and then pushed off. He was off the mat for less than a second before he was pressed back up against it.

“You need to be quicker!” He heard Lance yell.

Keith bent his legs again and pushed off and turned his body so now his stomach was pressed up against the mat.

“There you go! Now climb up to me! Hurry! The ride’s almost done!”

Keith tried to bend his knees again to crawl up, but the ride was keeping him from doing so. He tried bending his leg out to his side and pushed himself up. He kept going until he was level with Lance.

“Hey, buddy!” Lance reached out and gave Keith a high-five.

As the ride slowed down, Lance shout, “Let’s see who can stay up here the longest!”

“You’re on!” Keith yelled.

Keith held onto the pad for as long as possible until he noticed Lance slipping down. Once Lance’s foot hit the ground, he gaped up at Keith, “How in the world are you able to stay up there?”

Keith let go and allowed himself to slide down, “Guess you just suck.”

Lance gasped dramatically and put a hand over his chest, “Wow. Rude.”

They met up with Shiro and Allura while exiting the ride.

“So, how was it?” Shiro asked.

“So good!” Lance exclaimed, “Easily one of my favorite rides.”

Keith gave a small smile as Lance started a small conversation with Allura and said, “It was pretty cool.”

Shiro gave him a knowing look, “You looked like you were having a good time.”

Keith crossed his arms and looked off to the side, “Yeah, it was fun.”

“Well, if you want,” Shiro walked over to Allura and laid his arms on her shoulders, “you guys can go off and do your own thing. We’re gonna go see if Coran wants to give us a free prize.

Keith noticed Lance’s eyes grow wide, but didn’t say anything of it.

“No,” Allura said sternly, “you’re going to win me one fair and square and we can’t bother him while he’s working. That would be rude.”

Shiro chuckled, “Okay, okay. See you guys later.”

They walked off and Shiro turned back to them and mouthed ‘Nine o’clock’ before disappearing into the crowd.

Keith stood there with Lance for a few moments not really knowing what to do. Then Lance grabbed Keith’s arm and pulled him in the opposite direction.

“Come on! Let’s go on some more rides!” Lance exclaimed.

Keith instantly became worried, “Lance, wait!”

Lance stopped and looked back at him, “Something wrong?”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can do another ride. I’m not big on roller-coasters.”

“Oh, okay. That’s fine,” Lance said, “We can do something else.”

He looked up in thought and then snapped his finger, “I got it! This way.”

Lance grabbed Keith’s arm and led him in a different direction.

“Where are we going?” Keith asked.

“You’ll see,” He answered, “Don’t worry. It’ll be fun.”

Keith looked down at Lance’s hand holding onto his wrist and felt a blush creep up to his face. Keith could feel the warmth from Lance’s hand through his jacket and blushed even more. Keith looked ahead and tried to ignore whatever he was feeling and then saw that they were moving towards the house of mirrors.

“Oh, this is a bad idea,” Keith said as Lance pulled them in line.

“You mean the best idea,” Lance said with a wink.

When Keith noticed they were only letting in one group at a time, he groaned, “This is gonna take forever.”

“Look at the Brightside: this’ll give us time to get to know each other,” Lance smiled, “So, tell me about Shiro. I wanna know what my calc teacher doesn’t when he’s not teaching.”

Keith shrugged, “I dunno. We don’t really hang out as much as we used to.”

Lance looked like he wanted Keith to continue, so he added, “We used to be really close and then he joined the army. Some shit went down and now here we are.”

Keith was really hoping Lance would get the memo and leave it alone. He didn’t want to tell his life story to someone he just met. Thankfully, Lance didn’t ask him to elaborate.

“Yeah, I’m gonna be in a similar situation soon. My older sister, Josephine, just got accepted into the army. I’m really proud of her, but I’m also really worried, you know? But she’s always been really tough, so I’m sure she’ll be fine. She’s my sister. Can’t really help it.”

For the rest of the wait, Lance just went on and on about his family and Keith couldn’t help but feel down. Hearing about how close Lance’s family seemed to be made him wish his family could be like that.

After about a half hour, it’s finally their turn and they enter the attraction.

***

“Can you please tell me what your idea of ‘fun’ is?” Keith shouted.

Not even five minutes after entering the building, Lance had poked Keith, yelled ‘Tag, you’re it’, and ran off into the maze of mirrors.

“Have you ever played a game of Tag? Man, what was your childhood?” he heard Lance yell.

“Of course I know what Tag is. This is the last place you want to play Tag!” Keith shouted back, almost running into another mirror.

“Are you kidding? This is the best place to play tag. Now, come on. We don’t have all day.”

Keith groaned and kept both hand on the mirrors while he walked on. He glanced down at his watch and saw that it was 8:52.

*****

“Shit,” Keith whispered, “Lance! Come on!”

He could feel himself start to hyperventilate. _I won’t make it in time._

“Keith?” Lance shouted.

Keith’s vision started to blur and fade black. _I promised him I’d make it._

“You okay buddy?” Lance voice was stringed with worry.

He slid down one of the mirrors. _I can’t let him down._

“Okay, calm down. I’m coming to you. Hold on!”

He could barely hear Lance as he curled into a ball and struggled to breathe. He felt hands grab his shoulders.

“Hey hey hey,” Lance whispered, “Come on. Breathe with me.”

Lance started to take deep breathes, but Keith couldn’t focus on him.

_You failed him._

“Keith, come on, buddy,” Lance put his hands on the sides of Keith’s head and made Keith look at him, “Focus on me. Look only at me.”

Keith nodded and kept his eyes on Lance’s.

“Now, breathe with me,” Lance started taking deep breathes and Keith slowly started breathing with him.

“You’re doing good. Keep going.” Lance whispered.

*****

After what felt like ten years, Keith felt calm enough to breathe on his own.

“Let’s get out of here,” Keith whispered.

Lance nodded and helped Keith get to his feet. Keith was still a little shakey, so Lance took Keith’s arm and put it over his shoulders so he can support his weight. When they made it out of the maze, Lance looked over at Keith.

“You okay?” Lance asked.

Keith nodded, “Yeah. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-”

“Don’t do that,” Lance said, “I understand that’s not something you can control.”

Keith smiled, “Thanks. I think I’m good now. I need to head to the Ferris Wheel.”

Lance released Keith’s arm, “Alright, let’s go.”

They walked in silence while they made their way there, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Keith appreciated it.

Once they arrived, Keith found Shiro and waved at him. Shiro turned and when he noticed Keith there, his face from one of worry to one of happiness. Shiro nodded at him and then turned to Allura.

Keith turned to Lance and gestured at him to stay quiet. Lance nodded and they silently walked closer to them. Once they were close enough, Keith could hear Shiro as he spoke to Allura.

“Allura, it was here three years ago that we first met and every day since, you’ve made every second I’ve spent with you magical,” Shiro took both of Allura’s hands into his own. Keith heard Lance breathe in deeply, as if he was understanding what was happening and then started lightly slapping Keith in the upper arm. Keith smiled, but kept his eyes on his brother.

“I wouldn’t be half the man I am today if you hadn’t entered my life. I know we’ve had our struggles,” Shiro looked down at his prosthetic and then back to Allura. Keith felt himself flinch slightly. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Lance glance at him when he did so, but made no indication that he saw him.

“But with you by my side, we powered through and it’s made me realize that I wouldn’t be able to live without you,” Shiro went down on one knee causing the tears that Allura was holding back to fall down her face while Shiro took out the ring and held it up to her. Even Keith felt himself tear up.

“My dazzling princess, will you marry me?”

Without any hesitation, Allura nodded fervently, “Yes! Yes, of course!”

The crowd around them burst into applause as Shiro stood up, picked up Allura, and spun her in a circle. When he lowered her and slid the ring on her finger, Keith approached them and put his hand on Shiro’s shoulder, “I’m happy for you, Shiro.”

Shiro turned and engulfed him in a hug which Keith returned, “Thank you for being here.”

“Of course. You’ve always been there for me and I’ll always be there for you and that’s never gonna change.”

“Never.” Shiro agreed, squeezing harder.

When they finally separated, Keith approached Allura and gave her a hug as well, “Congratulations,” Keith whispered to her.

“So, did you have that speech planned out or did you just come up with all that off the top of your head ‘cause holy hell!” Lance said when he gave Shiro a congratulatory handshake.

Shiro laughed, “I’ve been practicing that in my head for the past few hours to be honest.”

“Well, now you two have to ride the Ferris Wheel. The ultimate couple ride,” Lance exclaimed.

“I agree,” Allura said, “It’ll be the perfect ending to the perfect day.”

“Now go on, lovebirds,” Lance said, pushing them to the line, “Go be lovebirdy.”

As they joined the line, Lance gave them a little bow and then made his way back to Keith.

“Of all things I thought I’d see today, seeing my calc teacher propose to his girlfriend was not one of them.” Lance said.

“I’m really happy for him. He deserves to be happy after all he’s been through.”

Lance gave him a curious look, “Come on. Let’s ride it.”

Keith blushed as Lance’s previous comment popped in his head, “I’ve never been a big fan of Ferris Wheels.”

Lance stepped in front of Keith and put his hands on his shoulders, “Then you’ve never fully experienced a true Ferris Wheel experience,” Lance grabbed Keith’s wrist and pulled him to the line for it, “I promise you won’t regret it.”

The line was especially long at this time, so it was gonna be a while before they’d be able to get on it.

“So,” Lance started, “do you want to talk about what happened in the House of Mirrors?”

Keith sighed, “That hasn’t happened in a long time. Usually Shiro’s there to calm me down when it happens.”

Lance remained silent, allowing Keith to say whatever he needed when he wanted.

“I had promised Shiro that I’d be here when he proposed at nine and when I was lost in the maze, I thought I was gonna break that promise,” Keith scoffed at himself, “Thinking back on it, it was really dumb.”

“No it’s not,” Lance said sternly, “And anyone who says differently can go fuck themselves. Your feelings are valid.”

Keith stared at him. He was expecting Lance to wave it off with a joke or laugh at him.

Keith smiled, “Thank you.”

“For being a decent human being? Sorry, but I shouldn’t be thanked for that.”

After a few moments of silence, Lance asked, “So, changing the topic, how’d Shiro and Allura meet?”

Keith smiled at the memory, “We were waiting in line for one of the rides and he heard somebody retching really bad somewhere near us,” Lance grimaced at that.

“He stepped out of the line to see if they were okay. That somebody turned out to be Allura who had apparently drunk some bad lemonade. He had me get some water for her and we stayed with her until she was feeling better. The rest is history.”

Lance smiled, “Man, they started at the phrase ‘If you don’t like me at my worst, you don’t deserve me at my best’.”

Keith laughed, “Yeah, I guess.”

They stood there in a comfortable silence for the rest of the wait. After about 20 minutes of waiting, they finally reached the front and stepped on one of the passenger cars. As they slowly made their way to the top, Lance placed his knees on the seat and looked out at the fair.

“Dude, come here. The fair looks so beautiful from here.”

Keith moved to sit next to Lance and looked out at the fair. Lance was right. Keith hadn’t had the true Ferris Wheel experience. Keith looked over at Lance and noticed he was already looking at Keith. Then, the Ferris Wheel lurched causing Keith to fall onto Lance and the ride stopped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like it was rushed or I could've written this a lot better, but oh well. Any questions, comments, complaints, or grievances can be sent to cocopbblez.tumblr.com (it gets lonely sometimes) or can be written in the comments. Don't know when the next chapter will come out, but I'll try to get it out as soon as I can.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment or hit me up at cocopbblez.tumblr.com. Will probably continue this when I have the time 'cause I've been playing around with this idea for about a year. Thanks for reading:)


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